DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomore Amanda Kim tallied the gamewinner with 11:18 remaining in regulation and junior Jessica Buttinger added another goal just before the final whistle to send the eighth-ranked Duke field hockey team to a 2-0 victory over No. 13 Stanford Sunday afternoon at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium.

The Blue Devil defense collected its fourth shutout of the season in the non-conference contest, improving the squad’s ledger to 11-4 overall.

"Our overall defensive organization was better today," said head coach Pam Bustin. "We stayed together as a unit, so even if somebody was eliminated or we lost a player there was a cover person there today. That’s been something we have been focusing on, to try to get that consistent cover player in line. Today it was there and it showed, it made the difference.”

The two teams traded penalty corners to start the match but the defenses cut off scoring opportunities by both sides over the next 20 minutes. Graduate student forward Cherry Seaborn stole the ball away from a Stanford defender and made a run up the field to set up a Duke penalty corner at the 11:37 mark, but sophomore Hannah Barreca’s shot on the corner was trapped and saved by Cardinal goalkeeper Dulcie Davies.

The game remained scoreless through halftime, with Stanford holding a 6-4 edge in shots and a 3-2 advantage in penalty corners after 35 minutes of action.

"What we’ve been focusing is trying to start out a little bit quicker," Kim said. "By the end of the first half we were able to pick it up and the energy was a lot higher.”

The Cardinal challenged Blue Devil goalkeeper Lauren Blazing early in the second half before Buttinger had a good look stopped by Davies at the other end. Duke’s offense picked up its activity up top, earning four consecutive penalty corners midway through the period. Stanford’s defenders blocked the first three penalty corner shots and Barreca’s hit on the fourth corner went just wide of the cage.

Kim tipped in a penalty corner hit by senior Brenna Rescigno in the 59th minute for her first goal of the season and second of her career.

The Blue Devils weathered a dangerous offensive possession by the Cardinal, and Buttinger punched in a rebound shot with 20 seconds left on the clock to cap the 2-0 victory.

Blazing made four saves in the shutout win while Davies registered four saves for Stanford. The Blue Devils finished with a 15-10 advantage in shots and led in penalty corners, 8-4.